Sunset
by saicho-18
Summary: missing scene right after the episode where kisa was first seen. she apologizes to haru for the wound that she caused. not particularly romantic but with strong harukisa implications. please read and review -


Title: Sunset

Summary: Missing scene right after the episode where Kisa was first seen. She apologizes to Haru for the wound that she caused. Not particularly romantic but with strong Haru/Kisa implications. read and review pls

Pairing: Hatsuharu x Kisa

The sky was tinged almost completely in red, signaling the nearing end of the day. Hatsuharu Souma sat on the wooden porch of Shigure's house, enjoying the laziness of it all. His unusually furry coat was off, leaving the wind to gently caress his bare appendages and his unusually colored hair.

He looked at the white bandage on his arm, and remembered the look that Kisa gave him when she bit it. It was a look of desperation from her brown orbs, one that seared right through his soul. The wound itself didn't hurt that much; he'd been to many a brawl with Kyo and received far worse beatings.

He sighed and looked at the symmetrical pattern of the wooden ceiling. He felt very stupid and agitated at himself right at that point. It took him ages to realize that she wasn't acting her usual self when she was being bullied. He had absolutely no right to call himself her cousin, protector, much less her friend. And how long did it take him to find her when she ran away? He couldn't even predict where she was going. It was long enough for her body to weaken that she had to transform.

The emotion of agitation increased.

Back in the olden days, which seemed so long ago, they were awfully close. She wasn't that talkative at all, it just wasn't in her nature, but she often came up to him and just listened to the stories that he had to tell. But by the time he entered high school, she stopped coming. He racked his mind for the changes in his behavior; after all, it could have only been his fault, right? Maybe she thought that he didn't care about her?

"Anou, Haru-san," a familiar voice called out to him, breaking his inner turmoil.

His head snapped towards the direction behind him, his eyes slightly widening at the sight of Kisa's slight figure leaning on the sliding door. She took a few tentative steps, until she were a few paces in front of him. His eyes widened even more, and his heart skipped a beat when suddenly bowed in front of him.

"Gomen-nasai!" she breathed out, her voice trembling. Was she afraid of him? The thought stung; he thought and hoped that by now, she'd know that he would never hurt her. "I really didn't mean to hurt your arm. I wasn't myself at the time. Please forgive me, Haru-san."

A smile slowly formed on his lips, as he watched the graceful form of his twelve-year old cousin. He wasn't amused, of course; he was just simply glad to hear his dear Kisa-san's kind voice again.

-

Kisa saw her hands tremble on her lap. She forced them to still. She was nervous, yes, even afraid. She wasn't _afraid_ of him, of course, but she was deathly scared of him being angry with her and not talking to her anymore. Haru-san, after all, was one of the fewest people who actually understood that she only wanted to listen and not talk. Right before he went to Onee-chan's high school, those afternoon chats were the highlights of her day. That was, of course, until he got too busy with schoolwork.

And then the bullying started. She regretted not telling him anything now, but for some reason, at the time, she felt that the whole situation couldn't possibly be helped.

"I can understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore, if you won't forgive me," she said, the unwanted tremor in her voice still not gone. Her eyes were already misting up, and she hated herself for it. Crying in front of him was the last thing that she wanted to do, and yet here she was, tears on the brink of falling down her face.

The silence stretched on for what seemed like an eternity, as the images of what his reaction would be entered her head. Would he laugh at her, shout at her or just plain ignore her? The last one hurt her the most. The idea of her cherished Haru-san, the one who told her many a funny story, ignoring her and pretending that she doesn't exist was far worse than the ordeal that she's just went through. After all, her classmates meant nothing to her, while he-

Her train of thought was interrupted as a pair of pallid arms encased her small form in an embrace. Her head was leaning on his chest; the smooth ripples underneath un-concealable by the thin black shirt to her touch. He was the first boy ever to give her a hug, the first boy to hug her in human form anyway, and she was very much thankful for the fact that the curse didn't work on him.

All traces of doubt and fear banished from her as she heard the steady and even beating of his heart. It seemed unfair, when one thought about it, that he should stay perfectly collected all through this situation, while she was racked with nerves and guilt. But then that was Haru-san: always cool and stable when he needed to be.

Kisa turned her head to the side; it was all she could do, really, with his hands holding it protectively still. The white piece of cloth that was the sign of her ill behavior fell into her line of sight.

"Don't think about it," she heard him say, the rumbling of his chest clearly felt. "It's nothing, it doesn't even hurt."

"I'm really sorry," she repeated, as she closed her eyes. The rhythm of his heartbeat really was comforting.

He shushed her tenderly and continued on to stroke her hair. "Kisa, I miss those afternoon chats that we used to have at the main house. Do you still remember them?"

She didn't nod, couldn't if that was the word, and she knew that she didn't have to. She merely snuggled closer to the warmth that was offered to her by his body.

The silence stretched on once more, but this time, she was much more comfortable and she had no problems whatsoever if they stayed like this forever.

"Please, Kisa," Hatsuharu started, his voice somewhat constricted by something. "Never let me worry like that again. If you've a problem about anything, anything at all, know that you can always come to me. I know that I'm not that much help about things, but I'm somebody who can listen too."

She nodded this time with a soft sound escaping her throat, a sound very much like the first sound she's uttered this afternoon.

"I couldn't say it in front of Yuki earlier," he continued, his voice growing softer. "But he's right: you _are_ impossible not to love. Never worry about nobody loving you, I'll always be here."

The unbidden tears returned and this time, they flowed out freely from her eyes. There was an absolutely different feeling that she felt when she heard those words from him. She felt elated, a sudden warmth enveloping her body.

She smiled against his torso and after a few more moments of silence, she looked up to his face. His eyes were closed, but a tearstain ran from one side of his face.

"Aren't you going to puke with those words that you've said?" she said, breaking the silence, recalling the many times she's heard him complain about anything relatively mushy. She watched his lips form a smile, his eyes still closed.

"With you by my side?" he countered. "Never."

-Fin-


End file.
